Bed rail and post rail connection



July 15, 1952 2,602,939

J. G. EDELEN BED RAIL AND POST RAIL CONNECTION Filed Sept. 5, 1945 'IHI WH I www'wg'm k C v I a.

INVENTOR. J G. EDEL EN Patented July 15, 1952 FFl-CE',

James G.' -Edelen, Baltimore, Md. Application September 5, 194s,'-se ia.1"'i c.- "614,492

My invention relates to improvementsjn rails and post and railconneetion'sforbed" generally but has particular 'reference to in bed-spring supporting rails in associaticn with wooden head and foot sections. 4

Briefly and generally stated the invention has for one of its primary objects to provide a bed rail and post connection incorporating a rail terminal 50 formed as to be available for use'in securing together the head and foot pieces 'of all wooden bedsteads presently on the market; and which will automatically compensate for or take up any l'o'o'seri'e'ss that ma occur etween the post and rail due to shrinkage of the bed post or loosening of the keeper pinswhi'chspan the rail end receiving slot or the post,

Another important obj ect'is to 'previde'anovel hook-incorporating bed rail'te'r'mihal having "a bed post-abutment flang'e'which also servesa's'a means for attaching the termin'alto'therail.

Additionally, the invention-contemplates ahov'el hook-incorporating terminal for a preferably metal bed rail which provides a "right anguiar disposed post-abutment 'fl'ang'e ek'tendin'gffrom both sides of the hook providing portion; and

,7,? d blfs which said flange may be formed frQrh'aPo'rti'cSn,

of the rail, or otherwise.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved 'almetal'bed'r'ailhavin ovel' and highly e'fiicien't bed post-securing 't which are strong and durable; include one, or a minimum number of parts, so as to :be cheapto manufacture; and provide a post ablittingpo'i'w tion which may be Welded to the armor therail.

The invention also resides in certain novel features of structure, combination and arrangement of the various parts "to be hereinafter de scribed and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings illustrating several embodiments of the invention. It 'is t'obe ufidr stood, howeverfthat the inventionis netliliiited to the-disclosures presented as it will be obvioiis to those skilled in the artthat other mechanical expressions of my inventive concept may be evolved without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter claimed hereinafter.

In the drawings, wherein the same reference characters have been used to designate'the same parts-in all views,

Fig. lis a side elevationalviewiillustrating one end or ab'ed rail and the associatempcst'the head or fdot'piece'ef a bed; v

Fig. 2 is a to 'i 'lan viewthereoi;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion "of a erminals 55 flange 13a into snug engagementwith the rear terminal ofFig. l detached andsh'owihg the slight lineal'coiicave of the post-abutment'fl'ange- Referring to the drawings by reference char acters, and turning first to the foimbf invention shown in Figs. 1 "and 2, numeral 1-9 designates a wooden-bed pos't,-although, or course, it is to be understood "that same'maybe of 'ine'tal. 'Ihis bedp'ost l0 has'the usual slot'l-l in its rear surface for receiving the hook providing terminal flangel30f the bed Tail 5.

The slot ;l l is spanned by the vertically spaced pins 12 which are adapted to be'received' in the slots l5 which are formed in the flange l3 and whose forward edges are defined by the upwardly and rearwardly slanting inner edges Ma of the hook bills '14, c 7

{Ih'eslots 'l 5,:'as shown in Fig. 1, flare to greater Width in the direction of thellfdlvvardly o ening entrance ends Him and it is to-noted that said slots 15, except at their "extreme inner ends, are of :grater width than thediameter of pins I 2 As'intimated earlier herein, the invention aims',

among otherthin'gsto adapt the post connecting" portion l3 of the rail 16 for all slot type moor-- porating bed posts which are presently on the market. Investigation has shown that the location's-of the hook slot engagingpins l2 are 'somewhat difierent in the posts of different manufacturers, being usually different distances from the entrance'endof the slot 1 l. 'I have,"therefore,' made the post" engaging flange l3 longer than,

usual and theme also made the slots l5 much longer than usual and have given'the forward. edges .Ma "of said edges a rearward inclination resulting in the inner ends of said slots being in ayertical'plane about a quarter of anin'ch orjso is the'verti'cal plane which includes the entrance ends.

lila'tedmhat thepins l2 Shall evr be actiiallydi'sposedin the rear ends of the slots '15 but shall,-

instead; bear against the forward edges I laof said slots 'iiiter'mediatethe ends thereof. This causes a camming action to-result which draws the base 3 surface of the post I0. Therefore, it makes no difference if the pins I2 of a particular bed post are closer to the entrance end of the slot II than are the corresponding pins of another post.

If the pins I2 should bend slightly or wear, or for that matter, loosen, the hook flange I3 simply slides down a little further and snug engagement of the base flange I3a with the post is maintained.

Wooden posts have a tendency to shrink as the result of drying out with age and my post connection I3, I3a, takes care of this by the progressive camming action of the slot walls Ila in engagement with pins I2.

However, in order to accentuate the gripping of the Fig. 1 base flange I30. against the post I0, I preferably make the post-engaging surface of said flange slightly concaved as at I3b, viewed in side elevation and better illustrated in Fig. 6..

In this connection, I deem it preferable to select a degree of concavity which will dispose the intermediate point of flange |3a approximately the, same distance from the plane of the adjacent post wall as is the transverse distance between the respective vertical planes which include the inner and outer ends of the slot walls Ila. As the post I shrinks and the hooks I4 work downwardly on the pins I 2, the base flange |3a tends to flatten out under pressure to-in-' crease binding engagement against the post and therefore assist the pins l2 and slot walls Ila. in supporting the rail I6.

I have illustrated the flanged post attaching ends of the rail I6 as welded at 1, Ila to the end of the rail, the latter being illustrated as of L-section providing an outer vertical flange Ilia and an inwardly extending bed spring supporting flange I6b.

It will be appreciated that the base flange |3a of the hook providing flange or member I3 serves not only as a bed post engaging abutment but also as a means for attachment to itself.

Turning to the modification of the invention shown in Fig. 3, a hook providing element I3, |3a is provided as before but the L-shaped bed rail I8 has its horizontal flange l9 cut away at the ends. The adjacent portion 20a of the vertical flange20 is then bent laterally as shown, .not only to provide a confining seat or ofl-set 20b for the inner end of the hook flange I3, but also to furnish a bed post abutting portion 20a at the opposite side of the hook flange from thefpost' engaging flange or base I 3a thereof.

The form of invention illustrated in Figs. 4..

and is characterized by a hook providing plate 2| whose upper end rearwardly of the hooks 22 has a short vertical slot 23 while the corresponding lower end of said plate is cut away as indicated at 24 to provide the vertical shoulder 24a.

The post abutting member in this form ofthe invention is a separate plate 25 having a closed lineal slot 26 adjacent one edge and of a width to receive the hook plate 2|. The parts 2|, 25

are assembled by passing the rear part of the hook plate 22 through the slot 26 and lodging the upper end of the plate 25 in the slot 23 of the hook plate 2|. The lower end of the post abutting plate 25 below the slot 25 makes flat engagement with the shoulder 24a at the lower end of the hook plate 2|. When the parts are assembled they may be secured by welding or otherwise, it being apparent that the plate 251pro-' vides a post-abutting surface at opposite sides of the hook plate 2|, thus achieving the same the bed rail result obtained by the Fig. 3 form of the invention, but without necessitating any special end formation of the bed rail.

It will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 4 that the front wall of slot 23 and the abutting lower shoulder portion 24a of the plate 2| serves to sustain the plate 25 against movement in the direction of the hooks 22.

Attachment of the terminal 2|, 25 to the rail 21 may be effected by welding or otherwise, it being noted that the rear end of the hook plate 2| is adapted to make flat contact with the outer I surface of the vertical rail flange 2112 while the plate 25 lies contiguous with the ends of both the horizontal and vertical flanges 21b, 21a of said rail 21.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided a very eiflcient but inexpensive bed railand post securing terminal therefor. The form of invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 involves but two parts, namely, the rail and the post engaging portion I3, I 3a which latter, of course, can be very readily turned out in quantity at small cost. The pin engaging slots of the Figs. 3 and 4 expressions of the invention, will be rearwardly cammed corresponding to I la in Fig. 1. Thus, the same advantages are obtained in the Figs. 3 and 4 illustrations as are obtained in that disclosed in Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A bed rail and post engaging terminal, the rail comprising an L-section bar providing a horizontal flange and a vertical flange, the horizontal flange only being cut away inwardly of the end of the rail and the vertical flange being bent laterally to provide a bed post engaging surface, and hook providing extension means secured to the end of the rail, said extension means having a laterally extending post engaging surface in the same plane with the corresponding surface of the laterally bent vertical flange.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, and the laterally bent post engaging portion of said vertical flange providing an off-set forming a seat for the end of said hook providing extension means.

3. In a bed rail, an elongated body portion of L-shaped cross section, and a terminal member for connection with the transverse slot-spanning pins of a bed post, said terminal member comprising a hooked pin-engaging portion and a base connected to said body portion and extending laterally thereof, the base providing a postabutting surface extending a substantial dis tance above and below the top and bottom of said body portion and being of a width closely approximating the width of said body portion, the hooked pin-engaging portion having an upwardly extending pin-engaging cam surface which is inclined toward said base, the base of theyterminal member abutting both angularly related portions of the adjacent rail end and being secured thereto, and said base being bent to present a longitudinally concaved surface to the post and being of material that will yield slightly under pressure.

-4. In a bed rail, a body portion and a terminal member forconnection with the transverse slot-spanning pins of a bed post and comprising anelongated angle form plate providing a hook-forming. flange as an extension of the body portion and a base flange secured intermediate its ends to the rail and-extending both above and below the .top and bottom respectively and lat- .5 erally of said body portion, said hook-forming flange having an upwardly extending pin-receiving slot open at its outer end and having a pinengaging edge inclined toward said base flange, whereby when the post pin and the terminal member slot are engaged the load on the rail will force the base flange against the post, and said base flange being bent to present a longitudinally concaved surface to'the post and being of a material that will yield slightly under pressure.

JAMES G. EDELEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Clarkson June 15, 1880 Bradford Dec. 20, 1881 Curtis Dec. 1, 1896 Dyer Oct. 19, 1897 Hirsch Aug. 21, 1900 Wheeler Aug. 9, 1904 Mellon July 16, 1907 Cordle Apr. 28, 1914 Spiegel Aug. 6,1918 Dyke Aug. 1, 1922 Rainier Aug. 9, 1932 

